Week #20 By Small and Simple Things are Great Things Brought To Pass. . .

Hey Family! Thanks again for the packages Mom!! I am thoroughly enjoying all the treats you sent! 

I still don't have any information yet about calling on Christmas Day, but hopefully I'll know something soon. Either way I'll be able to Skype, I'm just not sure yet how, where or when. I will let you know though as soon as I know anything. I've thought a lot about being away from home for Christmas and no surprise, I have had a few homesick moments this week :( All-in-all though the week just flew by and I had some great experiences!




We had our big Mission Christmas party last week before all the missionaries who are going home head out this week.  It was pretty cool! They fed us really well and we also got lots of treats. The pig was really good! The Lechon pig is a really popular thing in the Philippines. It seems like everyone has a pig. If you think *that* is gross Mom,  you should see the market!! haha That night we stayed over in Iloilo because the boats don't go back to Guimaras that late. I didn't get to shower (which is awful...you know me!) and I didnt sleep very well. Plus all of the "old" Elders kept talking about how they're going home this week, so It makes a new missionary like myself feel a little bit impatient with time! :/

Sister C's Baptism Day!

So this was a really exciting week! Saturday I did my first baptism! Her name is Cherylyn and she is 24 years old. We've been teaching her for the past couple of months. I think I've told you about her before - she lives on the other side of Buenavista, which is a good 25 min jeep ride, which can be expensive, and she comes to church *every* week. Her commitment is awesome. During her baptism it was low tide, so we had to walk waaaaaayyyyyy out to find a deep enough spot haha luckily she is a very tiny lady! It was a really amazing experience and I'm so happy for her and that I could be a part of it. :)

Two little specks of white walking out to find deeper water

I am really understanding more and more of what the people are saying and learning more and more words each week. Yesterday we went tracting and we talked to this lady who spoke very good English and she wanted to show off. What was funny is that she kept speaking English to us, but we spoke all Ilonggo back to her, so I guess we were showing off too haha :) I'm still trying to learn how to find people. Tracting can be frustrating. I still have that "salesman" feeling and somehow I've got to find a way to work through it.  Since transfer are this week I am really hoping that I will get to be a trainer. When I first got here I didn't think there was any way that I would ever be confident enough to train, but now I'm really hoping for it because it would help me progress a lot and It would be great to do more leading. I'm tired of being the "new missionary" and if I train it will help me to stay busy.
All the older missionaries say that time really starts flying by after the first 12 weeks. Once 2015 starts time is going to just zoom though. I don't know how I got to be over 4 months on my mission already! I feel like I just did my farewell and got to the MTC! I hope time seems fast for you too.

It's funny you should mention Elder Cuillard Mom. I just talked with him at the Christmas party. We both do kind of have the same struggles and laughed that before we know it we'll be speaking good Ilonggo and be 18 months out!
Today for P Day Elder F and I are going to try and fish down by the wharf! We have talked about fishing a lot and so we are going to go try and see if we can catch anything. Dad, I miss fishing with you so much! I'll let you know if we bring in any monsters! haha But I'm guessing we will most likely get skunked.
Love you lots Mom, Dad, and Hayley! Tell the family I say hello and I miss them too. 

Love Elder Michael